Tuesday, July 15, 2008

There's a neat online publication I hadn't seen before called Game Design Central, and every month they ask 10 questions of established inventors or game companies and post the answers. I was reading this months answers, and I really liked a couple of things Mike Selinker said:

Q - If you were to give beginning inventors one bit of advice, what would it be?A - Stop working alone. Find people who are as smart as you, or preferably even smarter, and harness their creative energy along with your own.

I feel the same way, and as I'm sure I've mentioned before, I think I'm a better developer than a designer, or that any design I do that will be successful will likely be a collaboration with another designer. There are many advantages to working with another designer, and few disadvantages.

Q - What is your process for getting toys & games seen?A - Lone Shark Games, Inc. is a design studio where I and my colleagues have existing accounts with many game companies, and they're happy when we have something new to show them.

This response made me feel a little jealous. A design studio where a couple guys - as their job - sit around and design and develop game ideas, with enough clout to call up a publisher and say "Hey, we have something new" and have the publisher say "well send it over!" That's the way I sort of see my friends in the Board Game Designers Forumchat room - only sans clout.